The Taming of Dr. Alex Draycott (8 page)

Alex talked to Katie for a little while longer and then went to find her next patient. She worked solidly for the next few hours, and when she had made some headway through the mass of patients on her list, she stopped and stretched her aching limbs and began to think about lunch. Perhaps now that things were a little quieter in the waiting room, it would be a good time to go and grab something to eat. Maybe she could even drop in on Jane for a few minutes, to find out how she was doing.

She left the department, and walked towards the delivery bay close by the open quadrangle where staff sometimes took their lunch. She caught sight of Callum there, talking to a man in uniform while he cheerfully signed a paper attached to a clipboard. She brightened a little. Perhaps they could have lunch together.

She went over to the two men, nodding towards the deliveryman before turning to look directly at Callum. ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I wondered if we might have lunch together?’

‘Ah…there you are,’ Callum said quickly, pulling in a sharp breath. He seemed to be distracted by her sudden appearance. ‘That sounds like a good idea…though I thought you might already have gone for lunch by now. You’re a bit later than usual, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I had a heavy workload.’

‘Ah.’

She frowned. His manner was definitely a little odd, and she was beginning to wonder why he was so preoccupied. She looked around, wondering what it was that the man in uniform was delivering. Behind him, on a trolley, half-sheltered by the two men, was a huge package, as big as a man and twice as wide. Then it occurred to her that something highly suspicious was going on.

‘This looks interesting,’ she murmured, peering behind them to glance at the box once more. ‘Is this something I should know about? Is this something that’s destined for the A and E department?’

‘Um…yes,’ Callum answered quickly, ‘but it’s nothing at all for you to worry about.’

‘Isn’t it?’ She lowered her voice, turning away so that the deliveryman wouldn’t hear. ‘We weren’t expecting any deliveries, were we? I thought we’d agreed that any order for new equipment was to go through me first of all?’

‘Yes, yes…that’s quite true, but everything’s in order, so you don’t need to worry about it.’ He moved her gently to one side, while at the same time saying to the man, ‘I’ll leave you to take it through to the department, then, Jim. You can leave it where we arranged.’

Jim nodded and Callum turned his attention back to Alex. ‘Actually, I’m glad I bumped into you. I was thinking of going up to see Aunt Jane after I’ve eaten. Do you want to come along? She should be out of the recovery room by now.’

‘Yes, of course, I planned to do that, but…’ She looked around to see where Jim was taking the package, but the man had disappeared along with his trolley. She frowned. Callum was clearly trying to distract her. ‘You’re up to something, aren’t you?’ she said, her gaze thoughtful. ‘I specifically said no new portable X-ray machine was to be ordered, and yet somehow you’ve managed to go behind my back and acquire one.’

‘What makes you think it was an X-ray machine?’ he said in surprise, raising dark brows. ‘All I could see was plain brown packaging.’

‘With the words,
Radiology equipment
written in black ink along the base,’ she retorted in a laconic tone. ‘I suppose you thought you’d sneak it into place while I wasn’t looking, and make out it was the one we already have. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice the difference?’

He winced. ‘Something like that.’ He looked her over. ‘There’s no getting anything past you, is there? You’re like a hawk, keeping a beady eye on everything, ready to swoop without warning when you see something you don’t approve of.’

‘Is that so?’ Unaccountably, his description of her stung, and she said crossly, ‘Perhaps I wouldn’t have to be like that if it wasn’t for people like you…haven’t you just shown yourself to be a devious, underhanded, sneaky kind of a man who has absolutely no respect for rules and regulations?’ Her eyes narrowed on him. ‘How could you deliberately flout the new policy that way?’

‘I didn’t.’ He gently placed a hand beneath her elbow and started to lead her towards the quadrangle and the corridor that led to the hospital restaurant.

It was yet more diversion tactics, but she wasn’t going to let him wriggle off the hook that easily. ‘Didn’t it occur to you that I would see the invoice? Or were you hoping to sneak that past me, too?’

He appeared to be giving it some thought. ‘I suppose there was always the chance I’d get away with it, for a week or so at any rate. But you must agree with me that the old machine needs a thorough overhaul…it’s always breaking down at inopportune moments and then we have to wait for the main X-ray room to be clear for use. And some patients are in too bad a way to be moved, so a bedside X-ray is really convenient…as well as quick and safe.’ He looked at her closely, his gaze sweeping over her taut features. ‘Surely you understand why I did it?’

She looked at him in frustration. ‘Of course I understand, but you know as well as I do that things are tight around here these days and we have to be extra-careful with spending. But you don’t seem to care about that. Why else would you spend money we don’t have?’

He opened his mouth to answer and she cut him short. ‘No, don’t answer that. I’ll tell you why. You did it because you thought you could get away with it…because that’s the kind of man you are, a law unto yourself, totally oblivious to the wider picture, to how your actions will affect everyone else, let alone having any regard for the kind of example you’re setting. As long as you get your own way, nothing else matters, does it?’

His dark brows rose. ‘Phew!’ He whistled softly under his breath and stared at her, his eyes widening. ‘I didn’t realise you had such a negative opinion of me. Are you quite sure there isn’t anything you left out?’

‘Oh, I’m sure there’s more where that came from,’ she said tersely. ‘Give me time, and I’ll come up with a list.’

He absently nodded agreement. ‘I thought you might…’ He studied her. ‘I’d no idea I could rouse you so much…you’re usually so calm and in control. You never lose your cool. It’s what everyone says about you…you don’t show what you’re thinking. You just get on with the job and deal with everything and everyone efficiently, without any kind of sentiment.’

He studied the quick rise and fall of her chest, his glance roaming over her tense figure, drifting down over the cotton pin-tucked blouse she wore, with its self-coloured buttons, and the slim-fitting skirt that gently skimmed her hips and ended at the knee, to show shapely calves.

‘Perhaps things are different now, though,’ he murmured. ‘Nothing’s quite going the way you want it to now that Dr Langton’s intervened, and you’re having to fight to keep everything in order. You seem quite flushed with the exertion.’ Light glimmered in his eyes. ‘It makes a very appealing picture, you being all pink and agitated. I’m not at all used to seeing that, though I have to wonder why you’re getting yourself so worked up…I might even say passionate…about what you imagine I’ve been up to.’

‘I’m not getting myself worked up.’ She ground the words out through her teeth and sent him a stony look. ‘I’m just pointing out the error of your ways.’

‘Yes, I appreciate that. But I’m still intrigued. This is so unlike you. You never vent your spleen, no matter how provoked you might be.’ His expression was quizzical, his glance trailing over the firm jut of her chin and coming to rest on the soft fullness of her mouth. ‘I wonder if you’d have reacted the same way if it was any other colleague who had been implicated?’ He shook his head. ‘Somehow, I doubt it. I have the notion that I’m the only one who can bring out such strong feelings in you.’ His eyes glinted. ‘Now, there’s food for thought.’

She pulled in a shocked breath. ‘That’s complete nonsense.’

‘Is it?’

They went out through the glass doors and into the deserted quadrangle. From here, they would be able to reach the restaurant, which was situated just beyond the dense screen of trees and herbaceous plants.

Alex was deep in thought. He was talking rubbish, wasn’t he? Of course she wasn’t getting herself all stirred up about him…it was the situation that disturbed her, wasn’t it? It couldn’t be that he had managed to fire up some spark that lay dormant within her…could it?

She couldn’t fathom it out. Why
was
she so het up? Was it really true that he, alone, was able to provoke her to such a wild and deeply emotional response, one that started up in the very core of her being? Surely not? The idea was unthinkable. She sent him a surreptitious glance, at the same time giving an imperceptible shake of her head, as though she was trying to rid herself of the notion, but just at that moment he turned towards her and caught her troubled glance.

‘Thinking it over?’ he asked, an amused note coming into his voice. ‘You’re having doubts, aren’t you?’ He reflected on that. ‘Perhaps we should put the theory to the test.’

She looked at him suspiciously. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, maybe we should find out just how deep your feelings go.’ He placed a hand lightly under her elbow, and before she realised what he was doing, he had managed to manoeuvre her into the shelter of a privet hedge. ‘Perhaps you’re not so cool and unemotional as you make out, and it’s all welling up inside you, but you just don’t know how to handle those instincts that you’ve buried deep down.’

She shook her head. ‘You’re way off beam. Why would I…?’ Her voice trailed off in uncertainty as his arms gently slid around her waist.

‘Why would you get yourself into a state over me?’ he finished for her. He drew her close, so that the softness of her breasts was crushed against the hard wall of his chest and her legs encountered the pressure of his strong thighs. ‘Well, let’s see now…could it be that you’re not quite as immune to normal, human emotions as you think you are?’ He lowered his head so that his mouth was just a breath away from hers, and Alex suddenly found that she couldn’t think straight any more. She knew that she ought to pull away from him, but although her head told her one thing, her treacherous body was telling her something altogether different. His hands were warm on the gentle slope of her hips and she was discovering that she liked the feeling.

‘I don’t know what happened to me, why I reacted the way I did,’ she said cautiously, trying to keep herself on an even keel. She hesitated, doubts clouding her brain. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’ She frowned, confusion settling on her, so that she was torn between wanting to berate him for his misguided actions, and yet, at the same time, she was conscious of her own shortcomings holding her back and undermining her confidence. And all the while he was holding her, setting her senses on fire with his gently stroking hands and somehow managing to befuddle her wits.

‘It’s not surprising you feel this way,’ he said in a soothing tone. ‘You’re stressed and overworked. You’ve taken on far too much…your brother and his wife are seriously ill, you have the children to care for, the house is a work in itself, and on top of all that, you have a difficult job to do. You shouldn’t blame yourself. Anyone would bend under the strain.’ He ran his hand over the length of her, letting it glide slowly over her back, her hip, her thigh. ‘But I can make things easier for you. I can show you how to forget your worries for a while.’

He rested his cheek against hers, his hand lightly caressing her, smoothing over the small of her back, and drawing her into the shelter of his body. ‘You just have to let me help you.’

For some reason, she didn’t even think of resisting, wanting only to lean into him and take comfort in his nearness…and that was strange, because no man had ever had quite that effect on her before this. Perhaps he sensed that inherent need in her, because after a moment or two he moved even closer, brushing his lips over hers and delicately testing the soft contours of her mouth.

Involuntarily, her lips parted, tantalised by his sweet exploration, and she gave herself up to his kiss, loving the way he moulded her to him and wrapped his arms around her. Somehow, just by holding her and cherishing her this way, he made her feel that she was all woman. For just these few moments she felt utterly feminine and desirable, and she realised that it was a feeling that she had lost over these last few months. She had been so bound up in her work, her problems, that she had forgotten there was more to living than being an automaton. It had taken Callum to bring her to life and show her that she couldn’t stay locked up in her ivory castle. Why was it that she let her work and the chaotic demands of family and household chores rule her everyday life?

‘Alex?’ He lifted his head and looked down at her, reaching up with his hand to smooth away the creases that had formed on her brow. ‘You’re thinking again. I can feel you thinking… I thought we’d established you should take time out from that?’

‘I…I don’t know… I didn’t realise…’ She could feel herself tensing up all over again. ‘That’s all very well for you to say, isn’t it? You seem to sail through life without worrying about anything. I’m the one who has to explain to the bosses when things go wrong. I’m the one who has to come up with answers. I can’t just cast it off as though it’s nothing.’

He sighed, leaning his head against her forehead. ‘This is about the X-ray machine again, isn’t it? There’s no way you’re going to relax until you’ve resolved it in your mind.’

‘You know me so well, don’t you?’ It was a question tinged with regret. Why couldn’t she simply let go, and cast her worries to one side?

‘Would it help if I told you that it isn’t a new machine?’ He frowned. ‘It’s a reconditioned model—what they euphemistically call “pre-loved”. And as to the money to pay for it, I’ve been raising funds for some time now, through various fun runs and dinner dances, raffles and so on. Now we’re reaping the rewards.’ He ran his fingers through the silk of her hair. ‘So you see, you had no reason to worry. I didn’t go against you. In fact, I told you that in the first place.’

‘Oh!’ She looked at him, aghast. ‘And you let me go on…’

‘And on…’ He chuckled. ‘I’d have stopped you, but it occurred to me that you needed to get it off your chest. You’ve been wound up for days, weeks. All you think about is the job, cost-cutting, and whether or not everyone is toeing the line.’